Abusing its market power, the Fast Way Group denied Day and Night News the opportunity for transmission of its TV channel on the cable network and denied access to the market, the CCI said in its order

New Delhi: Anti-competition watchdog Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a penalty of over Rs8 crore on three entities of cable TV service operator Fast Way Group for abusing its dominant position in Punjab and Chandigarh, reports PTI.

"The CCI has found Fast Way Group abusing its dominance in the cable TV service in the territory of Punjab and Chandigarh in violation of the provisions of the Competition Act, 2002," CCI said in a statement today.

CCI has imposed penalty on the Group's entities -- Fast Way Transmission, Hathway Sukhamrit Cable and Datacom, Creative Cable Network -- at the rate of 6% of their average turnover for the last three financial years, it added.

The order was passed after CCI carried out investigation on information filed by Kansan News that broadcasts news and current affairs TV channel 'Day and Night News' in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, the statement said.

The Commission held that the group has more than 85% of total subscribers in Punjab and Chandigarh and due to this not only every broadcaster, including the informant, is dependent on its network. Also the consumers of cable TV in Punjab and Chandigarh have huge dependency on Fast Way Group.

"They do not have any effective substitute to switch over to the other network. Abusing its market power, the Fast Way Group has denied the informant the opportunity for transmission of it channel on its network and thereby has effectively denied it access to the market," CCI said in the order.

CCI further directed the contravening multi-service operators to deposit the penalty amount within 90 days.

It has also directed the contravening entities to 'cease and desist' from indulging in anti-competitive practices which have the effect of denial of market access.

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Higher high and higher low on the Nifty continues for the third day in a row

The market closed with minor gains as selling in FMCG and IT sectors capped gains. Nifty managed to make a higher high and a higher low but closed marginally in the positive. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) saw a higher volume of 74.46 crore shares.

The market opened in the positive on supportive cues from the Asian markets, which were in the green in morning trade as the markets had factored in the weak global factory output data. Allaying fears of the delayed monsoon, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said rainfall is likely to improve from next week onwards.

The Nifty opened 20 points up at 5,299 and the Sensex started off at 17,458, a gain of 59 points over its previous close. Early buying was seen at the consumer durables, realty and banking counters which helped the indices hit their intraday high. At the highs, the Nifty going up to 5,317 and the Sensex climbing to 17,527.

Meanwhile, the rupee rose 25 paise to 55.18 against the dollar in early trade, buoyed by a firm opening of the stock market. The Indian unit gained further and was seen at 54.85 in noon trade.

However, the indices couldn't sustain the gains and came off the highs in subsequent trade. They were seen moving sideways till the noon session. A sharp decline around 1.45pm saw the benchmarks paring all their gains and venturing into the red. The decline came despite the key European markets opening higher.

The sell-off resulted in the market touching its intraday low with the Nifty falling to 5,266 and the Sensex going back to 17,352. But select buying pushed the indices higher once again. The market closed with minor gains amid range-bound trade. The Nifty settled nine points up at 5,288 and the Sensex gained 27 points to 17,426.

The advance-decline ratio on the NSE was tilted in favour of the gainers at 1070:622.

Top two A Group gainers on the BSE were- Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals (up 8.36%) and Sun TV Network (up 5.84%).
Top two A Group losers on the BSE were-Eicher Motors (down 1.85%) and Castrol India (down 1.83%).

Top two B Group gainers on the BSE were-Arrow Textiles (up 20%) and Ankur Drugs (up 19.98%).
Top two B Group losers on the BSE were-Texmo Pipes (down 19.89%) and Spice Islands (down 12.14%).

Markets across Asia closed in the green on speculations that central banks in the US and Europe would bring in new initiatives to support their economies. Meanwhile, China's official purchase managers' index for the services sector rose to 56.7 in June from 55.2 in May.

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has hiked its stake in Cairn India to over 5% through open market route. According to a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges, LIC on 22nd June bought 778,009 shares of Cairn India from the open market at about Rs324 per share. Post-acquisition, LIC's shareholding in Cairn India has gone to 5.029% from 4.988% previously. Cairn India settled 0.40% lower at Rs312.90 on the NSE,

Logistics major Gati has announced a 30% special dividend per share of face value of Rs 2 each for the year-ended 30 June 2012. The dividend announcement is to mark the consummation of its joint venture with Kintetsu World Express. The stock gained 2.77% to close at Rs40.75 on the NSE.

Mumbai: Private general insurance player Future Generali India on Tuesday launched a micro-insurance product targeted at the rural and semi urban, urban poor segment, to provide to insureds and their business under a range of covers conveniently brought into one package policy, reports PTI.

"The penetration of insurance in rural markets is dismally low, far lower than the national average of 4% (life insurance and non-life insurance put together). It presents a huge untapped opportunity, which can be leveraged with suitable products customised for these markets," said KG Krishnamoorthy Rao, managing director and chief executive of Future Generali India Insurance.

"We are confident that this comprehensive product and its viable price will make a compelling proposition, which will help our partners attract many first-time buyers who would otherwise stay away. We also intend to distribute this product through our bancassurance network," he added.

The insurance company also works with a few large microfinance institutions in the North and South and has over 15 lakh members across these institutions. The firm, however, did not provide details of the premium option under the scheme.

Future Generali is a joint venture between Future Group and Generali Group of Italy.